A while ago I posted photos of my Solotica Hidrocor Ocre contacts on my black eyes. I had written that I didn’t really like the color, especially when compared to my Hidrocharme Mels. Also, I missed having the limbal ring which covered up any iris overlap.

A couple days ago, I decided to give them another try. I wore them for several hours and the color really grew on me. I like the gray they give off now but I think the iris overlap is noticeable if you look for it. It’s the pale yellow ring around my iris where the edge of the colored part of the contact is bigger than my actual iris. I don’t think it’s a deal breaker but might be of a concern to some.

Here’s an updated picture to help anyone who may be wondering what the Solotica Hidrocor Ocre colored contacts look on dark brown/black eyes.

Solotica Hidrocor Ocre Contacts on Black Asian Eyes

I was browsing the Health & Beauty section of Deal Extreme when I came across some eyelid tape. I clicked on it out of curiosity; I was surprised to see something as obscure as eyelid tape on a site known for its discounted electronics.

I read the comments and was amused by the confusion many had about this product, such as:

“Wat?”

“These are false eyelashes…”

“I thought they were little stencils so you can draw the eyebrow”

Someone posted a before and after photo to try to help, but one commenter couldn’t see the difference.

Eyelid tape before and after.

In case you can’t either, eyelid tape is a cosmetic tool popular among some Asians.  It’s a small strip of translucent tape that, when placed on the eyelid, prevents the fatty hood of a typical Asian monolid from coming down normally.  Instead, the lid creases and creates what Asians call a double lid (as opposed to a single lid).

Both the men and women who use eyelid tape cite various reasons why.  Some think that it makes their eyes look bigger and brighter.  Others say it allows them to have more fun with eye makeup since now there is an actual eyelid area to work with.  While it can be pretty commonplace among some groups (such as young Japanese girls), others will criticize those who use eyelid tape for “wanting to look White” or “hating their Asianess.”  I personally think people should do whatever makes them happy.

I have some eyelid tape that I use occasionally on one eye.  Though I was born with single lids, occasionally one of my lids will crease on its own and I end up having very mismatched eyes.  When my eye “gets a lid,” my lashes are no longer hooded and the eye does look bigger and noticeably different from the other.  This usually happens during allergy season, however for the past 2 months or so, my left eye now seems to stay permanently double-lidded.  I have no idea why this has happen, but if I’m going out someplace nice, I will make my eyes match by using tape on the other.  Plus, it is true that you have more freedom with eye makeup when you have an actual lid area visible.  Most of the time though, it’s not worth the bother.

But it’s not more than most girls have, is it?

A girl can never have enough eye shadows.

I’m a lazy girl. Unless I’m going out to a bar, club or nice restaurant, I very rarely wear makeup.  Some lotion and chapstick is enough for me (though I should be wearing sunscreen).  However, I love the look of well-applied makeup, especially eye makeup.  I have a slight obsession with eye shadows and find myself buying them constantly.  I just love owning a little pot of color; it’s like owning a brilliant jewel with no two brands/shades being alike.

As I mentioned at the end of an earlier post, I jumped on the NXY lot sale and got Lot 3 (now sold out), which consisted of 43 of their great eye shadows.  So now I have 43 new shadows to play with, though I admit I probably have used less than 25% of the shadows I already own.  Despite my fascination with owning eye shadows, I don’t often put them to good use.

I think this is because I am never quite satisfied with how eye shadow looks on me.  Unlike my three younger sisters, I have monolids, also known as single lids or what one would consider typical “Asian eyes.”  Eye shadow is usually applied on the upper eyelid, but that’s pretty pointless for me because you can’t see my upper eyelid when my eyes are opened.  My eyelids disappear underneath my fatty epicanthal fold.  So, if I want to actually wear eye shadow and have the color be visible, I have to apply it higher than my natural eyelid area; I have a lot of visible space between my opened eye and eyebrows.  It’s like a big blank canvas with no guidelines.  I want guidelines dammit! A lot of traditional instructions for applying eyeshadows use your upper eyelid crease and browbone as a guide for where to apply color.  Well, I don’t have an eyelid crease and my browbone is pretty flat, so it’s not easy knowing where exactly to put the color and what “shape” to apply it in.

So many possibilities; with no crease to follow, what does one do?

There are tutorials out there for single lidded Asian girls, but they don’t really work for me.  Even though I’m monolid, my eye shape is rounder and larger than those in the tutorials:

I like how my eyes look here, but want to jazz them up with some color.

Also, a lot of tutorials don’t get very specific about what exactly they’re doing, especially video tutorials.  It’s very easy to take for granted something you yourself already know how to do (guilty!).

Well, I finally found two detailed tutorials that work for me.  One of them actually draws guidelines to help me determine where to shade:

Guidelines for monolid eye shadow

Christine wrote a great tutorial at Asian Beauty Blog, which you can read here.

I followed the steps earlier and was very happy with how it came out.

I also found a detailed video by mulzana on YouTube with a different technique especially good for creating a smokey eye:

So now that I’ve found a couple techniques that work for my eyes, I hope to actually use all the eye shadows I have!  In addition to having quality shadows, I’ve also come to realize that good brushes and a primer are important tools for great eye makeup.  I use Urban Decay’s Primer Potion, a small brush for applying precise color and a larger brush for blending colors.  Black eyeliner and mascara are key too!

I’m also wondering how to achieve the eye looks in the following two pictures.  Any thoughts?

Love this, but thinking maybe you need this exact eye shape for this look?

What a gorgeous, deep smokey eye!

It’s 2:49 a.m. I’m sitting on the loveseat in the living room with my laptop balanced on the seat’s thick arm. Penny is using my feet, which are up on the loveseat, as a pillow. She’s got a heavy, fat head.

I’ve been up for hours, as usual, reading the news, catching up on blogs, and clicking through humor sites. I’ve always been a night owl, but ever since I got laid off, I’ve really been taking advantage of not having to get up early. I tend to stay up now until 4 or 5 in the morning and get out of bed around 11 or noon. Though often, I’ll have to get up earlier than that to walk the dogs. I’m more awake now than ever because I fell asleep earlier for a good part of the evening after taking some allergy medications.  Allergy season is starting off with a bang here in Los Angeles and, as is the case every spring, I am suffering greatly.

Enough of the boo-hooing, I really need to get back on a “normal” schedule, but nothing is motivating me to do so at the moment. I wish I could say I was accomplishing a lot during these quiet, deserted hours but I’m basically just wasting time until I resign myself to bed out of exhaustion. I actually haven’t been motivated to do much lately, which is a bit frustrating since I now have all the time in the world. I’m probably dealing with a bit of depression and that usually results in me getting really apathetic and lethargic. Well, at least I’m self-aware so that’s a start.

I haven’t been completely inactive though. The “garden” I’ve started on my balcony is moving along, slowly but surely. A few weeks ago I planted some ranunculus bulbs and was excited to see that all 5 have sprouted!

You can barely make out the first one, but it's there!

Growing something from the ground up is so simple yet very rewarding.

You can do it little guy!

In addition to the ranunculus bulbs and the already-grown ranunculus plant on my balcony, I picked up a fern from Home Depot.  It wasn’t until I got the fern home that it hit me: I find ferns to be very creepy.

Mr. Creepy Fern

How are ferns creepy? Well consider that they haven’t changed much for millions of years.  These ancient plants dominated the landscape back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth and almost seem like animals themselves.  They don’t reproduce the same way most plants do, no, not with pollens and seeds.  Instead, they coat their undersides with what looks like egg sacs and each little spore is capable of developing into a separate organism which in turn can grow into a new fern… something about that really disturbs me.  Plus, if you ever looked at the underside of a fertile fern leaf, the spores do look rather nasty and makes you think the plant had been infected by some insect or something.  Plus, new leaves don’t really sprout, they unfurl from a tight curl… ::shudders:: why did I buy a fern?!  I’m glad it’s outside where it can’t attack me and impregnant me with its spore.  But it is pretty to look at, so I guess it’s all good.

I also picked up a plant at the 99 Cents Only Store.  They get in little potted plants now and then and 80% of the time there’s a tiny stake in the dirt with some vague description like “Asst. Ivy” or “Cactus.”  The plant I bought was the healthiest plant there, which isn’t saying much since the rest were either wilting or dead.  But hey, for 99 cents, you can’t expect quality care.

Unfortunately, my plant didn’t have a stake nor any other labels.  I had no idea what it was, but I knew it was a flowering plant because I saw little buds on it.  I have never seen a flowering plant at the 99 Cents Only Store and was really excited to see what it would turn out like.  Well, two days later it bloomed!

What a great buy for only 99 cents!

I was so pleasantly surprised at the results!  It has a pretty pink color and a soft, beautiful fragrance.  Unfortunately, it turns out I’m allergic to the flowers (what a surprise) so I had to take it from the kitchen window sill and put it out on the balcony.  I tried in vain to figure out what it was by Googling a few similar flowers. Gladiolus? Nope. Lilacs? No way.  I was clueless.

And then, the other night as I was washing the dishes, I wasn’t even thinking about the plant when a random word just entered my head: hyacinth.  Sometimes, life works in mysterious ways.  I have no idea how I came upon it, but I immediately did a Google image search for hyacinth and, eureka!, that’s exactly what my plant is. My subconscious mind must have pieced together some vague memories and suddenly made the connection.  Now I’m wondering how long it will last and if it will bloom anymore.  Seems like it’s just a one-stalk, one-time deal.

Okay, this blogging has succeeded in making me tired. I’m gonna try to take baby steps into getting back on a normal, daytime schedule.  Will try to get up by 10 and hit the gym.  Even though that’s only about 6 hours of sleep, I’m hoping it will make me tired enough later so I end up going to bed at a decent hour!

Oh, by the way, Threadless is once again having their $5 t-shirt sale.  I picked up a few.  From observation based on what sizes are sold out, it seems that men and large women are the biggest t-shirt wearers.  Women sizes L, XL, and 2XL are often sold out first.  I’m lucky to be on the opposite end of that spectrum.

Thanks to Jen of From Head to Toe for getting the word out about the NYX Cosmetics lot sale.  I first discovered NYX eyeshadows at my local Longs drugstore.  They have a great color selection and their shadows are of such great quality: smooth application, long lasting, and wonderful color payoff.  They rival many designer brands yet were only $3.99 each as compared to $18+ for many high-end brands.  Needless to say, I was a bit upset when Longs stopped carrying NYX, but because of this lot sale I am getting lot 3 which has 43 (FORTY THREE!) different shadows for only $1 each! OMG! My order was shipped today and should be arriving tomorrow.  Eee! So excited.  I don’t wear makeup very often but absolutely love owning eyeshadows.  It’s like owning little pieces of an endless palette of colors.